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I too used this functionality frequently and am annoyed it's gone. Can I do it differently? Well, obviously, yes, I can, since I now must. Hardly a showstopper, but it's another "feature" that seems to have vanished. New doesn't always equal better and breaking/altering UI to include LESS functionality is pretty bad design.

Yes, but guess what? The remotes are already out there, it's water under the bridge. People need to move on because the ship has sailed.

Could it have been all that difficult for them to have put a page in the remote control setup showing a picture of each remote, and asking which yours looks like. If you select the old one, then the functionality would still work, if the new one, it won't. It seems doable to me.

Luke

Sagaciously eschew obfuscating sesquipedalianisms.

Evil is charming and beautiful. It makes you doubt yourself. It asks for one small compromise after another until it whittles you down, and it functions best when no one believes in it.--from Joan of Arcadia

There is a bunch of things they could have done, the problem is they didn't, and the remotes are out in the wild now, so I don't see anything changing.

Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
-by Jack Handy

The change being discussed here has an easy work around. Just use pause before going to the guide. Is that really so difficult or complicated? Surely there are more important issues to get riled up about.

LOL...no doubt. When I first noticed this change....and I used pause alot while in the guide or list...I just changed my behavior. Hit pause, then go into list or guide.

Not so hard to do...figure out....and there's just so much more in life to get upset about. Especially spend alot of time on....

"The back of the RC70H is labeled to tell the user that there's no point in stealing it. RC70H remotes use a different codeset than other DIRECTV remotes so taking one home isn't going to do anyone any good."

I don't believe they are just for hotels though. I believe they are what is going to be used for RVU clients as well, and I believe some people here with RVU Samsung TVs got them from DirecTV by calling in and asking for them.

As far as them using a different codeset I didn't think that was the case. If it is, then yes this is an even dumber decision by DirecTV than I thought it was.

Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
-by Jack Handy

I don't believe they are just for hotels though. I believe they are what is going to be used for RVU clients as well, and I believe some people here with RVU Samsung TVs got them from DirecTV by calling in and asking for them.

As far as them using a different codeset I didn't think that was the case. If it is, then yes this is an even dumber decision by DirecTV than I thought it was.

There are 2 separate remotes. The one for RVU clients and the anti-bacterial one, that some people are calling "hotel remotes". There's also rumor out there that the anti-bacterial remote is going to become the "standard".

As far as codesets it's one thing to add a new codeset that does exactly the same thing as another but it's something completely different to add a new codeset that has different button instructions. A new codeset with new button instructions would be a big change to the firmware, requiring new logic and changes to most every file (most likely). However adding a new codeset is as simple as adding the same instructions but on a new IR channel, which is probably a change to one file.

That's not saying it can't be done, but it wouldn't be easy. Remember DirecTV likes to take the path of least resistance. Look around here and see all the people complaining how slow remote response is now and imagine how much worse it would get if the unit had several options for a keypress based on the remote used.

If you were creating a new codeset it wouldn't be that difficult to add a new IR function for pause/play toggle and only use it on those new remotes, and leave the existing discreet pause and play commands as they were.

Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
-by Jack Handy

If you were creating a new codeset it wouldn't be that difficult to add a new IR function for pause/play toggle and only use it on those new remotes, and leave the existing discreet pause and play commands as they were.

As a coder/developer I disagree and pause/play isn't the only thing changing. The colored buttons are "going away" too.

I am sorry to hear that our remote control is no longer functioning in the manner that you would prefer. This particular behavior - the use of trickplay functions (i.e. fast forward, pause, rewind, etc.) when the main screen is minimized - has been expressed by several customers and this is under review. This change in behavior first occurred when we updated to our new HD User Interface. As of the time I wrote this response, I don't know if or when this behavior will be changed.

Your feedback is of great value to DIRECTV and the services we offer. As such, I have forwarded your comments to management for review; please rest assured your voice is being heard and many of the changes we make are a direct result of the comments and suggestions we receive from our customers.

Regarding remote control functions, the best resource we have available are our receiver user manuals available at www.directv.com/manuals.

The online remote manual you referred to is out-of-date and does not include all of the changes you mentioned...

It would be nice if Dtv would communicate the planned changes before they make them... If you manage the expectation level correctly you will minimize the disappointment level... And I do sincerely hope that you and the higher ups are listening...

Please tell them that I look forward to the restoration of the trickplay functions...! I hope they can make that happen... One would believe that if they can launch a communications satellite into geosynchronous orbit and bounce hundreds digital audio and video signals to millions of receivers all over the country that they could manage to restore this trickplay functionality that they eliminated earlier this year...

At least be up front about the blunder and communicate effectively with the customer base... The coverup is always the thing that gets you in trouble... If you admit the original failure you will usually be forgiven...

As a coder/developer I disagree and pause/play isn't the only thing changing. The colored buttons are "going away" too.

As a GOOD developer I disagree with your disagreement. I've done this same exact thing before. It's trivial. It's not a new codeset, it's a new button in the existing codeset. When they added the Windows key to keyboards, they didn't scrap the entire keyboard design and start all over. Both old and new keyboards work on new PCs (providing your PC has a PS/2 port).

I think they shifted all the other trick play buttons to guide navigation to free up or get rid of the colored buttons, but forgot to leave pause alone. I also think the future remotes will have a combined play/pause button (a bad idea, IMO). So they just said "screw it" and did all the code changes for that at once.

I guess if enough people complain about it D* may change their minds. But it's probably never changing, and I don't think anyone else has that feature.

Could it have been all that difficult for them to have put a page in the remote control setup showing a picture of each remote, and asking which yours looks like. If you select the old one, then the functionality would still work, if the new one, it won't. It seems doable to me.

Actually, the receivers can detect which remote is connected. This is particularly evident with the X remotes which can be programmed by the receiver.

You know how we see the RED and GREEN icons in the Guide to alert users they can jump 12 hours? Well, I've been told that when a hotel remote (one without the color keys) is used, the interface actually displays the symbols for REW and FFW on screen in place of the color icons.

I love that DIRECTV implemented that, but it does make me wonder why they couldn't then detect that "my remote" has discrete PAUSE and PLAY buttons and respond to them accordingly. The only thing I can think is that DIRECTV is not done tweaking the keys...

EDITED TO ADD: I should clarify that I'm not clear if the hotel receivers display the FFW/REW symbols because of the remote detected, OR because of the specific firmware. It could very well be the latter. That does not negate that the receivers can detect the remote used and could potentially be programmed to respond accordingly.